It's got all the great young adult novel ingredients (making it a good old adult read too!) and it really works. There's a lot to get fired up about in In Our Own Backyard - a healthy dose of romance, friendship and family issues. The term gaslighting is used for this behaviour now, and the author's investigation into it is sensitive and non-judgmental. All goes well for a while, but Harry doesn't like Liza hanging around with Rewi and there are instances where Liza knows Harry is being unreasonable and controlling but he manages to convince her she's done something wrong. Racism, the Dawn Raids, and Liza's first love, Harry. The story centres around the protests, but there's much more going on here. Anne Kayes has written a masterful YA novel that considers questions of human equality that are as pertinent in the twenty-first century as they were in 1981. This becomes more tense as the book progresses and reflects how families became divided on the issue. Liza's family are all against the tour and want to join in the protests, but her brother Pete plays rugby at school and doesn't want to get on the wrong side of his team-mates who are saying "it's just a game". Eva In Our Own Backyard Book Review Cover. The police are watching their house and Rewi gets questioned by them every day - the same questions, over and over. Set between 2 times - NZ 2020 Covid-19 lockdown and the hugely controversial 1981 NZ. Her best friend is Rewi, and his mum is a photographer, chronicling the protests against the Springbok tour. We go back with Liza to 1981 when she's 15.
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